BMW to bring Mini in CBU format

The BMW Group, on Thursday, announced that the Mini range of vehicles from its stable would be available as completely built-up units (CBUs) in India. The Mini range will include Mini Hatch, Mini Convertible and Mini Countryman. These will be available in petrol variants with six-speed automatic transmission. Andreas Schaaf, President, BMW Group, said, “By launching the new Mini ten years ago, we created the world's first premium small car brand. Since then, we have sold over two million Minis and converted the Mini brand from a single-model offer to a family of six models. Three of them — Mini Hatch, Mini Convertible and Mini Countryman — are now available in India. Our main focus this year will be to concentrate on successfully establishing the Mini brand in India.'' The Mini range will cover five models with Mini Cooper (at the lower-end) priced at Rs.25.50 lakh and Mini Cooper S Countryman High at Rs.35.90 lakh (at the higher-end), ex-showroom all India. The BMW Group with its three brands — BMW, Rolls Royce and Mini — is focussed on the premium sector of the Indian automobile market. To date, it has invested Rs.180 crore and its activities include establishment of a production unit in Chennai, a parts warehouse in Mumbai and development of a dealer network across major metros. The Chennai plant, with a capacity to make 11,000 units annually, now makes the BMW 3 series, the BMW 5 series and BMW X1 in petrol and diesel variants while BMW X3 is made in diesel variants. BMW unit sales grew 45 per cent in 2011 to 9,371 units and in the January-March, 2012, quarter, sales were at 2,369 units. At present, BMW has 25 outlets across the country but by the end of 2012, it plans to expand its dealer network to 40 across major metros. Keywords: BMW Group India